Unilever

The abolition of the dividend tax will definitely not happen, Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced after a coalition meeting on Monday evening. The government and the coalition parties reconsidered and decided to definitively reverse the most controversial measure in the government agreement. "The fact is that support for this measure was limited", Rutte said after the meeting, NU.nl reports.

The Supreme Court shot down one of the Dutch government's main arguments for abolishing dividend tax. The Netherlands' dividend tax is legally very sustainable and not discriminatory for foreign investors. It therefore does not have to be abolished to prevent lawsuits and repayment of taxes, Advocate General Peter Wattel of the Supreme Court wrote in advice to the government, NOS reports.

Unilever scrapped it plans to turn the British-Dutch company into a purely Dutch company and move its head office from London to Rotterdam. Resistance from British shareholders in particular was decisive in this matter, NOS reports.

The board of directors will now consider how to proceed. Shareholders' meetings scheduled for the end of the month, will be moved to a later date.

The relocation of Unilever's head office to the Netherlands may be faltering. British shareholders are increasingly threatening to vote against the British-Dutch multinational's plan to move to Rotterdam, sources around the multinational told the Volkskrant.

Unilever has a plan B for compensating British shareholders should the Netherlands not scrap dividend tax as the government plans to do. The British-Dutch company assumes that dividend tax will be a thing of the past in the Netherlands by 2020, but even if it isn't, this plan will allow Unilever to set up its head office in Rotterdam without shareholders losing out, NOS reports.

Like Shell, Unilever also came up with a construction that should ensure that its British shareholders will not have to pay dividend tax now that the Dutch-British company will be based in the Netherlands, RTL Nieuws reports.

Large international beverage and food companies still do too little to make their products healthier and to make healthy products cheaper, and thereby more accessible, according to the 2018 Access to Nutrition Index - a long running international study conducted by the Netherlands based Access to Nutrition Foundation, NOS reports.

The British government is expecting that Unilever will pick Rotterdam for its head office after the United Kingdom leaves the European Union - the so called Brexit, the Financial Times reports based on information from government officials. Unilever refused to comment.

Unilever, a British-Dutch multinational, employs 169 thousand people world wide, including 7,500 in the U.K. and around 3 thousand in the Netherlands. The company currently has a shared headquarters in London and in Rotterdam. The entire head office employs 100 people - 60 in London and 40 in Rotterdam.

Jumbo's Goudeerlijk cornbread won the 'Gouden Windei' award as the most misleading product of the year, food watchdog Foodwatch announced on Friday. According to the watchdog, this cornbread is baked without cornmeal and only contains corn pieces for decoration. The corn-yellow color is created by adding the spice turmeric, ANP reports.

Of the 15 thousand people who participated in this public election, 31 percent voted for Jumbo's corn bread.

Dutch-British consumer goods company Unilever wants to acquire the food branch of British company Reckitt Benckiser, though is facing competition from American company Hormel Foods, British newspaper Sunday Times reports based on anonymous sources.

The acquisition involves around 2.2 billion pounds, or 2.5 billion euros, according to the newspaper. Reckitt is known for French's Mustard, Frank's RedHot Sauce, Worcestershire sauce and brands like Calgon, Durex, Nurofen and Clearasil.

While Unilever immediately rejected a recent takeover bid by American competitor Kraft Heinz, it seems their shareholders were less dismissive. They think that the British-Dutch company can do better and that changes should be made, NOS reports. On Thursday CEO Paul Polman announced that Unilever is considering getting rid of its margarine branch.

The top executives of companies listed on the Amsterdam stock exchange AEX earned an average of 5 million euros last year, about 1 percent more than the year before, according to an analysis done by the Volkskrant.

American company Kraft Heinz withdrew its proposal for a merger with Anglo-Dutch food giant Unilever. The two companies announced in a joint statement on Sunday that Kraft Heinz "amicably agreed" to withdraw the plan, ANP reports

Unilever announced that it rejected a merger proposal brought by food giant Kraft Heinz on Friday, saying that the 125 billion dollar approach "fundamentally undervalues" the Anglo-Dutch company. Kraft Heinz is not giving up however and will continue to negotiate, Reuters reports.

Unilever CEO Paul Poman thinks there is a obscene excess in salary handed to chief executives of businesses these days. "I am ashamed of the amount of money I earn," Polman told the Washington Post in an interview.

After presenting a business case to improve power and electrical supply to hospitals in Rwanda, Alliander & Cordaid won the "Best New Partnership Award" in The Partnership Election 2014. This competition challenges young professionals to form a partnership with a NGO and/or the government and develop a business case in a developing country.